The RSPB’s Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project is likely to go ahead after an agreement has been reached between the RSPB and Crossrail to use material excavated while digging the cross-London rail link to create the huge wildlife reserve.
Subject to a planning application made by the RSPB to Essex County Council, the project will create 150 hectares of mudflats, 190 hectares of saltmarsh, 75 hectares of shallow saltwater lagoons, and an additional raised area of saltmarsh in anticipation of future sea level rises. About eight miles of coastal walks and cycle routes will also be created as part of the scheme.
The saltmarshes, and mudflats will attract rare coastal birds such as spoonbills and black winged stilts, and potentially even Kentish plovers not seen in the UK for over 50 years.
Graham Wynne, Chief Executive of the RSPB, is quoted by Wildlife Extra:
“This is a fantastic agreement that one year ago, we could never have imagined. Wallasea will be the RSPB’s most ambitious and innovative habitat recreation scheme. It will create a huge new area for birds and other wildlife whose existing habitats are being damaged and lost because of climate change. This is a ground-breaking deal between one of the UK’s leading enterprises and an environmental charity. It is absolutely wonderful news for wildlife.”
Crossrail main works should begin in 2010, with tunnel boring starting in 2011. The RSPB’s work on Wallasea is expected to take between five and ten years.
Source: Wildlife Extra
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Tags: Crossrail, Kentish Plover, RSPB, Wallasea Island
